EDF Renewable Energy has created a new business unit, Distributed Electricity and Storage (DES), which will focus on distributed solar and storage projects up to 30MW.
The DES unit will look for emerging distributed-energy opportunities to offer products and services to commercial, industrial (C&I) and utility customers in the US.
EDF set the foundation for the new business by acquiring solar project developer groSolar last year, while also expanding its DES staff by hiring two industry veterans in Tom Leyden and Felix Aguayo.
Leyden, the former CEO of Solar Grid Storage, and Aguayo, former managing director at SunEdison, boast an extensive track record when it comes to developing large-scale solar projects.
Raphael Declercq, vice president, portfolio strategy at EDF RE, said: “In ramping up our commitment to distributed generation and energy storage, EDF RE will be developing new products for our customers that will also help enable greater penetration of wind and solar into the grid.”
The new DES group will utilise EDF’s resources and implement new solar-plus-storage business models for C&I and utility customers. In partnership with EDF affiliates in North America, the company will offer a variety of services including energy supply, hedging, and risk management, along with options for demand response, load management, as well as on and off-site renewable generation.